Introduction

My name is John P. Oberlin, and I'm from Northeastern Ohio. I'm nearing 30 years old, married, and expecting our first child in August. I spend my days between Kent State University, where I am a graduate assistant in the English Department, and the University of Akron, where I recently began teaching English as a second language.

I like traveling, swimming, hiking, and learning new views and opinions about the human experience. I've been to Alaska, Germany, and Mecca, Saudi Arabia. In the future, I hope to teach English while earning a degree in Arabic in Saudi. I also keep a blog about my English learning and teaching at englizia.blogspot.com.

I dislike closed-mindedness in myself and others. I believe one can retain certain values they believe in while still learning about "the other." Yet learning does forever change oneself...

Here is a video of my 2011 trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to visit my in-laws and the Holy Mosque.

This is me on the right teaching English in Dresden, Germany in 2009.